Sports

After resuming their schedule against Perrin-Whitt, the Ladycats traveled back home for a matchup against the Throckmorton Lady Greyhounds. 

The Ladycats came out swinging and picked up a 41-13 victory. 

Head coach Ryan Dollar appreciated the team’s aggression after getting bested by Perrin-Whitt. 

“We got out-efforted last night by Perrin,” Dollar said. “We’ve got to go crash the boards, we’ve got to get second chance points and I think we did a much better job this afternoon doing that.” 

After a long week off for the most part from all sports, Newcastle was tested late in the week with back-to-back games against Perrin-Whitt and Throckmorton. 

After losing to Perrin-Whitt, the Bobcats bounced back with a 73-14 win over the Greyhounds. 

Head coach James King credited this win to a fast start offensively and the team’s effective shooting throughout the contest. 

“It’s always good to get a fast start,” King said. “On teams like Throckmorton, they want to pack the paint and they’re going to let you shoot outside.” 

The Graham Lady Blues continued their district schedule after nearly a week off due to winter weather. 

The team played a matchup against Stephenville and despite the 42-27 loss, found pieces that could lead to wins moving forward. 

Head coach Baylee Atkins pointed specifically to the offensive side of the ball, and how attacking the basket and being able to get easy buckets inside the arc would help space the floor out. 

The Steers came back from an extended break due to winter weather with a home matchup against the Stephenville Yellow Jackets. 

While the Steers came up short 68-59, they showed a lot of fight which they can carry going forward. 

Head coach Quinton Fossett found it encouraging how the team fought throughout the game having to kick things back into high gear after almost a week off. 

“You can’t knock it,” Fossett said about their effort. “Being iced in for a week and a day, since we really played or practiced, it’s awesome.” 

The varsity teams weren’t the only ones who got in games last week for Graham High School as the JV Lady Blues played a matchup against the Mineral Wells Lady Rams and came away with a 38-29 victory.

What was even more impressive about this victory was the fact that the young Lady Blues accomplished this feat while being severely undermanned. The team was down to just five players on the whole roster along with their manager but still came out victorious. 

Four Graham basketball teams traveled to Mineral Wells for matchups before the winter weather kicked in last week leading to a halt in the schedule. One of the teams was the JV Steers who came away with a 49-36 victory. 

The Steers had to weather an early offensive run from Mineral Wells and the team found themselves trailing 18-6 after the first quarter, but were able to rally the rest of the way for the win. 

Head coach Matt LeFevre credited the victory to the Steers’ character and heart in this contest. 

Despite the snowy weather halting Graham and Newcastle sports for much of the week, there were still plenty of stellar performances before the winter weather rolled in. 

This week The Graham Leader is recognizing Carmen McGee of the Lady Blues and Braxton Barnett of the Steers as this week’s Athletes of the Week. 

Carmen McGee, JV Lady Blues Basketball

The varsity Steers and Lady Blues weren’t the only teams that played games last week to get ahead of the weather. 

The Graham Lady Blues hit the road to Mineral Wells for another district game against the Lady Rams, and despite coming home with a loss, the team showed growth in a contest that ended 44-37.

This was one of the closest games for the team in quite some time and there were positive moments to build from. 

The Lady Blues got off to a scoring surge in the first quarter led by players like Addison Gober, Katy McGehee, Briley Randall and Addyson Weaver to finish off the quarter leading 13-11. 

The Newcastle Ladycats have been surging at the right time as they are now 5-0 in district and have claimed first place. Their latest victory came against the Woodson Cowgirls 42-23. 

Head coach Ryan Dollar gave credit to Woodson, however, for the fight they gave throughout the game, especially in the first half. 

The first quarter ended with the Ladycats keeping a two-point lead 13-11. Four different Cowgirls contributed to that scoring. Emma Hawkins once again stepped up as a leader for Newcastle with nine points. 

After starting off their district schedule with an 0-1 record in a loss to Brock, the Graham Steers have turned things around quickly. 

After picking up a home win against Brownwood, the Steers moved over the .500 mark with a win over the Mineral Wells Rams 56-32. 

After the game head coach Quinton Fossett said from what he has seen from this group of players all season, he was not surprised at the level of success they have been able to achieve.